White City, Oregon...Once again, the Road To The Iron Giant runs through Southern Oregon Speedway. The Iron Giant Street Stock Series will again run eight races at eight different tracks throughout Oregon, and the series kicks off at Southern Oregon Speedway on May 19th with Disorder At The Border II. The Iron Giant Series was the brainchild of Chris Sine and James Whitehouse.

Last season, they booked a similar schedule, but the races at Sunset Speedway in Banks and River City Speedway in St Helens were both rained out. The competitive six race series included six different Main Event winners, but when the points were all tallied, it was Kyle Yaeck winning the inaugural championship.

Yaeck won the Mark Howard Memorial race in Cottage Grove last season, and he was certainly the most entertaining driver in scoring a second place finish in the first Disorder At The Border race at Southern Oregon Speedway. In that race, won by Donald Schott, Yaeck came from the back of the pack and had the crowd entertained before finishing second ahead of Washington Street Stock champion Jack Parshall.

The record will show that Ron Brewster won the Madras event, Nick Hanson scored the victory at Roseburg on the pavement, David Cronk won the Battle At The Beach in Coos Bay and Joey Tanner won the prestigious Iron Giant Race in Willamette. Other notable events won by stars of The Iron Giant Series last year included Brian Cronk's victory in the Clair Cup at Willamette and Yaeck's victories in the Prather Family's Lucas Oil race at Coos Bay and the Jim's Thriftway 100 lap event at Sunset Speedway.

Yaeck won the championship by 75 points ahead of Erik Jarnport last season. Jarnport only had a six point margin between himself and third place finisher Whitehouse, while Sine and Jessie Yankee rounded out the Top 5.

Street Stock enthusiasts will know that the division was a part of Southern Oregon Speedway for five years from 2010 to 2014. The first year, no championship points were kept, and the track also ran Enduro races on some nights when they also had Street Stocks. The first champion was Duane Orsburn, who won back-to-back championships, the second ahead of Jorddon Braaten, who won the third season's title. The record also shows that Miles Deubert was the last crowned Street Stock champion at Southern Oregon Speedway in 2014.

Though the division did manage to reach double digits on occasion in 2012 and 2013, rules changes saw the class decline rapidly, leaving many disappointed drivers who were hoping this could build into something. One driver who still has his Street Stock is Top 5 2014 competitor Garrett Dees. Though Dees is coming off of a "Rookie Of The Year" award winning season in Late Models, he is preparing his car in the hopes of winning the $1,000 first prize in this year's 50 lap Street Stock event. It's been speculated that if even a half a dozen drivers could materialize from the Medford area, the division might have a chance to rise again in the future.

In the meantime, The Road To The Iron Giant Street Stock Series will give the fans a taste of an exciting style of racing that they don't get to see very often in Medford. Street Stock and even Hobby Stock competitors from California would also be welcome for the big event. Again, Kyle Yaeck, James Whitehouse, Chris Sine, Jack Parshall, David Cronk and others are anticipated to kick off the Road To The Iron Giant Series on May 19th at Southern Oregon Speedway.

Street Stocks do not come alone on May 19th. Joining them will be the exciting Late Models, Mini Stocks, Valley Stor-All Late Model Lites and Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars. If that's not enough, there will Outlaw Kart racing at the little Southern Oregon Speedway track that afternoon. The Karts will also compete on the small track a night earlier. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

White
City, Oregon...One of the fastest and most exciting divisions at
Southern Oregon Speedway is the Late Model Lites division. For the 4
Cylinder racer looking to go a little faster, this division was added to
the roster in 2003, a year after the Super Truck division was retired
from the roster. As with the Mini Stock division, Bryan Barns won the
first championship in this class, backing it up with the 2004 crown.

Speaking
of back to back championships, Bob Burkett followed up his 2016 Mini
Stock championship by winning the Late Model Lites title in his rookie
season in this division last year. Burkett is far from a rookie in
racing, having won roughly 20 Main Events at Southern Oregon Speedway
and ranked second in the Mini Stock championship battle four times.
Burkett has a knack for winning Trophy Dashes and has probably won more
of them at Southern Oregon Speedway in the last half-dozen seasons than
anybody else.

Through his consistency, Burkett won a
close battle with another consistent competitor, Charlie Eaton. For
Eaton, second place in last season's race was a career-best effort.
However, he would love to put his name in the winner's column this
season. As champion, Burkett joins a list of stars such as two time
champions Brian Johnsen and Joe Guider, Lee Doty, Parker Jones and
Reggie DeVore on an impressive list of title winners.

It
was thought that Lee Doty would be the driver to beat last season, and
he did nothing to discourage that thought when he won the season opener.
However, it was one misfortune after another after that, causing Lee to
skip the last couple of races making repairs to his batteted car. He
will be back stronger than ever when the season starts. He will
reportedly not be the only car #7 on the track as 2014 champion John
Barger is rumored to be returning.

Greg Arnold went on
record as the final Super Truck champion in 2002. He purchased the #91
car and was one of the top stars last season. Like Eaton, Arnold will be
out to try and score a feature victory this year. Another driver to
watch for is Dan Prewitt. Dan was a feature winner in 2016, but he had
the dubious distinction as the unluckiest driver in the field last
season. Despite misfortunes that often times prevented him from even
starting the Main Event, Dan kept coming back and giving it his best.

The
Aos family should be represented by both father Eric and son Dusty Aos.
Dusty finished fourth in the standings last season and served notice to
the competition that he will be a driver to contend with this season
when he won the season finale. His father is a past Main Event winner in
this division and would love to get back into the win column this year.

After
looking impressive with two Main Event victories last season, Randy
Hansen put his fast #40 car up for sale. No word on who has bought this
car or what their plans are. Hansen has another car, but how much we
will see him hasn't been announced. Meanwhile, teammate Bob Westcott,
who also won a Main Event last season, is currently putting another car
together.

Casey Osuna switched from the pavement to the
dirt to run the final race last year and is rumored to be joining the
field this year. There are several other drivers at large who could make
appearances this season, including the division's all time Main Event
win leader Terry Hadley, Krista Hadley, Nolan Fincher and Steve
Thompson.

The Late Model Lites division clocks in with
times comparable to the IMCA Modifieds, and the racing can get very
exciting, as evidenced by some of the battles put on by last season's
two time winner Randy Hansen, Lee Doty and Bob Burkett. The drivers are
all stepping up their programs as they know winning a Main Event in this
division will not be easy. Valley Stor-All Late Model Lites will
compete nine times this season, opening up with a race on May 12th. For
further information, check out www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

White
City, Oregon...Since the gates opened at Southern Oregon Speedway in
1996, the Mini Stock division has been a part of the championship
program. This will be their 23rd championship season. If there's one
racer in the group who can appreciate tradition, it's third generation
racer Kristopher Mix. Mix grew up watching his father, Keith Mix, race
at the old Posse Grounds Speedway and other racing venues in Oregon.

Last
season, Mix surprised the field by winning a closely contested
championship battle that saw no less than five drivers with a
mathematical shot at the championship going into the final race. Great
racing and racers is nothing new to the Mini Stock division. Through the
years, this division has had many great stars, including four time
champion John Derby, two time champions Tracy Bradley and David Bishop,
inaugural champion Bryan Barns, Rich McCoy and Mike Johnson.

One
of the drivers Mix had to beat for the championship last season was
Johnson's 15 year old son, Michael Johnson, who finished a strong
second. Last season also boasted three other past Mini Stock champions
in the field with 2013 champion Steve Goetz, 2014 champion Gary Anderson
and 2016 Yreka champion David Steele. There were also occasional visits
from 2016 champion Bob Burkett, who moved up to win the Valley Stor-All
Late Model lites title last season.

They don't get
much better then David Steele, who has won somewhere in the area of 50
Main Events between Southern Oregon Speedway and Siskiyou Motor Speedway
in his impressive career. Steele appeared to be the driver to beat last
season after dominating the first two races of the season. However,
major motor problems derailed his effort. As if to remind everybody that
he is still one of the best, Steele ended the season with three
straight Main Event victories.

Word has it that Steele
is getting ready to come back out, though he admits he's more interested
in going out there and having fun than chasing points. Steele should be
joined by team mate Goetz, who indicated last year that he may take on a
car owner role with his niece driving the yellow #55 car.

One
of the more interesting cars in the field is the blue #007 Pinto Wagon
of Andrew Hall, who is Mix's Neon Mafia teammate. Hall had indicated the
possibility of moving up in divisions this season, though he said that
either way his car would be out there this season with him or somebody
else driving.

After an impressive third place season,
Dillen Lausen will apparently be out of the division as Mike Weiser has
sold that car back to its former owner, 2015 champion David Marble.
Johnson might be poised to win the championship. However there have been
rumors that he will be making a move into either the SODCA Dwarf Car or
IMCA Sport Modified class. The team actually purchased the #27 Dwarf
Car of Anthony Pope. Johnson had his 2016 and 2017 cars up for sale late
last year, though we haven't heard if they have sold and who bought
them.

Hunter Magnan struggled at times in his rookie
season, but he still won last year's "Rookie Of The Year" award. Prior
to the season finale, he purchased the #8 car from the Fettinger Racing
Team. Magnan was trying to sell his old car as of this writing. At the
moment, one driver to watch in this year's rookie battle is 2016 Hornet
division champion, Tim Hedges. Hedges will attempt to do double duties
in a Mini Stock and a Hornet this season.

There are
several other teams at large, including Garrett Fredrickson, Patrick
Stringer-Stine and Mike Cloud. At the end of the 2016 season, Randy
Simmons indicated that he would take last season off preparing a new
car. No word on his status for this season. There are other rumors as we
prepare for an exciting 12 race season, but we'll have to see who is
there on race night.

The Mini Stock division has served
its role well throughout the history of this track as an affordable
division with close competition. That hasn't changed, as last season's
close point battle has proven. The season will kick off for the division
on May 5th, and then the battle will be on to see who the next champion
will be? Will Mix repeat? Will Steele win his first home track
championship? Will there be a new champion? Stay tuned. As always, go to
www.southernoregonspeedway.com for further information.

2018 Southern Oregon Speedway ScheduleMini Stocks

May 5
May 12
May 19
June 16
June 30
July 14
July 22
August 11
August 18
August 25
September 8
September 15

White
City, Oregon...JOAT Labs returns as the title sponsor for the Hornets
division at Southern Oregon Speedway this season. Miles Deubert, who
runs JOAT (short for Jack Of All Trades) Labs came on board as the title
sponsor last year and built several cages for new cars as the division
enjoyed its best season ever. Optimism is high for an even better season
this year.

The Hornet division was first introduced as
part of the Southern Oregon Speedway schedule in 2013 and had small
fields in 2014 and 15. Champions those first two seasons were Robbie
Jones and Drew Fielder. When Mike McCann took over promoting the track
in 2016, there was a new commitment made to promote and grow this entry
level class. Car count hit an all-time high that season as Tim Hedges
won a close battle with Darrell Nelson Jr. for the championship.

Hedges
reaffirmed his commitment last season as he fielded four cars on
multiple occasions. His wife, Jenna Hedges, and son Ashtin Hedges, also
raced regularly last year. Jenna outran Tim to finish second in the
standings, while Ashtin finished fourth. Jenna was also crowned the
first "Rookie Of The Year" for the class. Nelson, meanwhile, shared the
driving duties in his car with sons Zack and Ryan, while youngest son
Gabe Nelson finally made his division debut in one of the Hedges cars at
season's end.

The good news is the Nelson team will
have multiple cars this season while the Hedges team continues to field
multiple cars as well. Tim Hedges plans to do double division duty as he
also moves up to the Mini Stock class. The Hornet division has produced
a few new stars into the Mini Stock class, including 2017 Mini Stock
point runnerup Michael Johnson, Garrett Fredrickson and Dillen Lausen.

Last
season saw the return of past Thrill Cars champion Jason Stoutenburgh.
Stoutenburgh won the final four races to solidify his well earned
championship. The division is a gateway class to welcome young drivers
into the sport. Last season, second generation racer Dylan Irving made
his debut at 14 years old, joined by teammate Brandon Wonsyld and John
Corder in the popular Ashland High School PT Cruiser.

The
2017 season ended with two new lady competitors, Bree Tritchler and
Kelli Burton. Burton took over the #57 car, which was at the season
opener and had been parked ever since. Word is that there will be
several other new competitors in the Hornets division this season.

The
sport is always looking for talented young drivers, and Southern Oregon
Speedway offers one avenue with the Outlaw Kart program that takes
place on the smaller track on Friday nights. The easiest way for new or
inexperienced competitors to get started on the bigger track is the
affordable Hornets division.

Drivers learn the basics
in what is essentially a bone stock front wheel drive Mini Stock class.
From there, they can move up to other divisions. JOAT Labs is still
making new cages to ensure the safety of the drivers. Also, JOAT Labs
will have a house car that will be driven by multiple different drivers
throughout the season.

Southern Oregon Speedway is
proud to offer an exciting 11 race schedule for the division, which
begins on May 5th.. Point standings will be kept at each event as well
as the regular purse and trophies for Main Event and Trophy Dash
winners. It all adds up to more excitement with the JOAT Labs Hornets at
Southern Oregon Speedway. For further information, go to www.southernoregonspeedway.com.

2018 Southern Oregon SpeedwayJOAT Labs Hornets Schedule

May 5
May 12
June 2
June 23
June 30
July 14
August 3
August 18
August 25
September 8
September 15